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The (new) culture of respect

Gender-based violence is an exercise of power and control over the woman’s body and actions. It is not always easy to recognize it. It is often devious, does not manifest itself openly and is not limited to physical abuse but can also be verbal, emotional, psychological, economic and sexual. It takes place above all in the home, in the area considered safer, but it can happen anywhere. For every woman, recognizing gender-based violence is the first step in addressing the problem, because seeing the signs of it means preventing and fighting it.

But in many cases, abused women either don’t realize the situation or are afraid to expose themselves for help.

Support, here is the key word: unhinging fear, feeling protected, obtaining information, advice, assessing the risks and eventually getting in touch with the police. In other words, making informed decisions about how to manage your situation: it is now possible, thanks to technology. Vodafone Foundation, in partnership with CADMI – House of Battered Women e State Police, has indeed launched Bright Sky, a mobile app that provides concrete resources, support and tools to women who experience abuse. The app, which can be downloaded for free, can also be used by relatives, friends, work colleagues, associations and by all those who are close to abused women.

«Gender-based violence – he explains Marinella Soldi, President of the Vodafone Italia Foundation – represents one of the greatest urgencies in Italy and in the world, a phenomenon that affects millions of women and that we must fight by all possible means. With the launch of Bright Sky, the Vodafone Italia Foundation wants to offer the community concrete support, exploiting the potential made available by technology. Bright Sky is an example of how digital and connectivity can contribute to improving people’s quality of life ».

And we really need a good example, since in Italy the data provided by Istat (the National Institute of Statistics) continue to be alarming: 31.5% of women between 16 and 70 years of age have suffered physical or sexual violence. The phenomenon worsened during the lockdown, recording an increase in requests for help from anti-violence centers (+ 80% compared to 2018, Di.Re. data, Women in the network against violence). In the same period there was a decline in the number of complaints, which only returned to growth in the reopening phases. And femicides today represent 48% of the total number of voluntary murders (source: Ministry of the Interior).

Faced with this scenario, a tool like Bright Sky raises the bar of awareness, and becomes a vehicle for a new culture of respect: launched last summer, the app was recently promoted by the project #Ask for a friend, the social campaign that in a video poster has traced one of the most used expressions – in an ironic sense – to ask embarrassing questions without exposing themselves. Bright Sky, in fact, promotes correct information on maltreatment through a risk assessment tool, which helps women (or those close to her) to understand the situation, and a questionnaire aimed at debunking stereotypes and clichés. It presents an online safety guide, which provides information and practical advice for the safe use of your devices, digital platforms and social networks. It also provides a mapping of support services (locally and nationally) and speed dial to 112 with a single tap on each page of the app.

Bright Sky is among the Apps for Good, the Vodafone Foundation apps at the service of the community. In fact, in recent years the Foundation created in 2002 has focused on the development and promotion of activities in various fields of application, in which technology is used to concretely contribute to the economic, social and cultural development of the country. The launch of Bright Sky also confirms Vodafone’s commitment to counteract the phenomenon and protect its employees. Vodafone has in fact implemented a policy for employees who suffer domestic violence and mistreatment in 27 countries of the Group, including Italy. With this measure, employees can take advantage of ten days of paid leave, as well as support and advice to deal with delicate moments that may arise in these situations (such as a possible report to the police) and access and specific training for the using the Bright Sky app. Developed in the UK by the Vodafone Foundation in 2018, the app also landed in Ireland, the Czech Republic and Romania. It can be downloaded for free on Android devices from the Google Play Store and on IOS devices from the Apple App Store and is available in Italian, English, French and Spanish.

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